EU denied power to overrule airport noise limits

Member states and MEPs have rejected a European Commission plan to give the EU the power to overrule airport noise restrictions put in place by local authorities.

Jörg Leichtfried, an Austrian centre-left MEP who is leading negotiations on behalf of MEPs, reached a deal with the Greek presidency of the Council of Ministers yesterday (27 January) to reject the proposal. The regulation was put forward by the Commission in December 2011 as part of a larger EU airports package of proposals.

Airlines had been complaining that noise limits were being set arbitrarily and in defiance of national transport needs. But campaigners argued that air travellers were being given priority over local residents.

Most of the restrictions involve the times during which planes can take off – flights are often banned at night. Under the proposal, local authorities would have had to justify these bans based on a specific list of concerns. The Commission says that some local noise restrictions compromise safety and could cause capacity problems, as well as increasing carbon dioxide emissions by forcing planes to maintain long holding patterns.

But Leichtfried said today that the proposal was an unacceptable interference by the EU into local affairs.

The altered version of the regulation would implement a minimum set of guidelines devised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Local authorities will in principle have to ensure that operating restrictions are cost-effective. But neither the Commission nor the ICAO would have any power to overrule a local authority decision.

The deal must still be backed by the full Parliament and the member states.